More on Savannah

I couldn't bear not to post a few more of the pictures we took in Savannah. As you can see, it was a chilly day on December 23rd.


The first cemetery in Savannah was established in 1735, and the last burials in this cemetery were a hundred years later, in 1835. When the Union soldiers departed their encampment in the cemetery after the civil war, many of the stones had been displaced. The townsfolk tried their best to reposition them where they were originally located. Those markers which could not be restored to their original location were arrayed on this wall for preservation.

It was sad to see how many young children did not survive their first year of life, and in some years, an entire generation could be decimated by cholera, yellow fever, or influenza.


Savannah was founded by General Oglethorpe, who petitioned Parliament to enable him establish a colony in Georgia to defend the Crown's claim to this territory. Spain also claimed the area, and occasionally made incursions from their established military forts in Florida. In the last of these battles, General Oglethorpe's troops ambushed and defeated Spanish troops at "Bloody Marsh", on St. Simon's Island, near current-day Brunswick.
General Oglethorpe recruited many of his new Colony's settlers from English debtor's prisons. He established several interesting government policies for his colony: No lawyers were allowed (probably to protect the interests of the emigrant debtors). No Catholics were allowed (for fear of Spanish sympathizers). Slavery was not allowed within the city of Savannah.
Today, of course, many of the oldest historic buildings and residences are owned and occupied by Irish Catholic lawyers and law firms. Savannah now also has a beautiful Catholic Cathedral.

There is also an African Methodist Episcopal church that was built before the civil war. It was constructed largely by slaves from the surrounding plantations. They volunteered their labor and meager resources to its construction. They walked into the city after doing a full day's labor for their owners, worked on building the church, and then walked back to their plantation in time for their next day's work. The exterior of the building is quite plain, but the craftsmanship on display inside the building is wonderful.